Business law and ethics

When Ben Franklin wrote Poor Richard’s Almanac and the words, “A little neglect may breed great mischief,” he did not have price fixing in mind. To the 47 executives in companies in the folding-box industry convicted of price fixing, however, the words seem tailored to fit. In those companies convicted under antitrust laws in 1976, […]

A fictional bank CEO must make a fast decision in the face of an unthinkable crisis. What would you do in his place? Editors’ Note: This fictional case study will appear in a forthcoming issue of Harvard Business Review, and your comments will be considered for publication in the magazine. We’ll email you if your […]

Mum’s the word.

The open office is the dominant form of workspace design for good reason: It fosters collaboration, promotes learning, and nurtures strong culture. But...

People aren’t getting dumber, but they’re often treated that way. Politicians, educators, and the media assume the public is uncomfortable with nuance and grateful for prescribed solutions. Business, too, is being progressively dumbed down, not only by book authors who teach management by parable but also by managers themselves. Ironically, the infantilization of work is […]

Protections and benefits shouldn’t be based on employment status alone.

On December 9, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined Microsoft founder Bill Gates and wealthy investor Warren Buffet in signing the Gates-Buffet Giving...

For the first 40-plus years of their existence, the federal securities laws did not require or prohibit specific managerial practices in the operation of business, other than a business in one of a handful of closely regulated industries. But with the passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, the SEC is equipped to […]

Late next week, you’re going to notice some changes around here. We’re about to unveil a new design and structure for Harvard Business Publishing’s Web properties. You’re probably familiar with two of our Web sites- one (HBR.org) focused primarily on content from the print Harvard Business Review, and the second (HarvardBusiness.org) showcasing mostly Web-native content […]

Chicanery is common in the start-up world: With so much at stake, founders are apt to exaggerate, obfuscate, and otherwise stretch the truth when courting...

"Changing yourself in the job, especially if you're doing well, is one of the hardest things to do."

Jim Whitehurst, CEO of Red Hat, explains how to inspire, motivate, and empower people at all levels to act with accountability.

The genetics boom is upon us, promising everything from cures for inherited diseases to smarter children. But companies must tread carefully as the ethical debate plays out.

You may have noticed that there’s a movement afoot to persuade capitalists to behave better. Persuade is the operative word. The agitators I’m talking about aren’t socialists. They tend not to put a huge amount of faith in regulation. They celebrate entrepreneurship and innovation. But they think something has gone wrong with the way businesses […]

Most executives think they’re security conscious—they change their passwords and shred important documents and so forth. But what rarely crosses their minds, says espionage expert H. Keith Melton, is that cloak-and-dagger types really are after their valuables. Just because you’re not paranoid, he observes, doesn’t mean they’re not following you. Melton, the author of Ultimate […]

Despite their best intentions, managers tend to shut people down.

Sex in the workplace doesn’t just hurt those parties involved. Sure, Mark Hurd’s recent scandal produced three obvious casualties: Mark Hurd, Hewlett Packard and its shareholders, and even, to an extent, Jodie Fisher. But in the barrage of press attention since the news broke, little mention has been made of a large group of other […]

They restrict employee mobility.

Managers typically look for ways to reduce wait time to increase customer satisfaction. New research suggests there's a better approach: showing customers...

To promote accountability, productivity, and shared learning, many organizations create open work environments and gather reams of data on how individuals...